People Watching: The Illusion of Normalcy
by SelfTenCent
Summary: Malfoy's dead, Harry won't talk, and she's left: the only one who knows the truth. Everyone has moved on, and so has Harry in all appearances. She knows better. She knows all about the love story of a century. HpDm Not so cheerful


**Another Word For Normal  
**(Btw...Harry Potter belongs toJ.K. Rowling, but I'm starting to wonder if these disclaimers are even necessary.)

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Malfoy did it. On the Quidditch Pitch. With a dagger. Do I win? Of course not. I wasn't the first one to figure it out. I wasn't even second. I was pretty damn close to last. But that's what happens when you're on the outside.

I did figure one thing out first. I figured out who cared the most. I figured out who was most devastated by the loss of the supposed Junior Death Eater of Hogwarts. I was so proud of myself when I made my little discovery too. No one ever would have suspected it, but I did. Little _Weaslette_, little girl on the sidelines, little tag-along suspected it. And then I dug up the whole story. The _whole_ story. The story that I seriously doubt anyone actually wanted to hear. I was the one who figured out that Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy had been in love.

Yes. In love. I was as heartbroken as any girl would be when I found out that the two boys I would ever collect photos of were taken, by each other. But such is life. And so I continued to dig. I didn't stop until I knew the whole thing.

I suppose I sound like a stalker right now, but I assure you I'm not. Watching people is something of a hobby for me. And when a story like this started to unfold, who was I to leave it be. I'm a sucker for romances as much as anyone. Actually, maybe more than most.

Anyways, I got the whole story about a week before Harry leaked it to Hermione and Ron. And I don't think the general population ever got the whole story. So in that way, I'm privileged. But maybe I'm not. Curiosity killed the cat, right?

So I started out looking through trash bins. Classy, I know. Naturally, that produced very little. But they did have one thing. A letter, addressed from H to D. A very curious letter it was too.

_D –_

_Tonight. Same place. Something Important is hinging on your response._

_- H_

Naturally, I never even thought that cryptic H was Mr. Potter, but I did hope that D was Malfoy. Also, my curiosity was quite piqued by the "Something Important" and it was at that point that I began to wish desperately that wizards dated their letters.

So the one little letter was how it started, and it was the beginning of something big. It could almost be deemed a homosexual, 20th century, magical Romeo and Juliet. But not. Because at least at the end of that story, the pair was together. No such luck for our two star-crossed lovers.

But I'm getting ahead of myself and I believe I'm starting to sound a bit fatalistic. Anyways, Harry and Draco started seventh year just as they had started the other six years. With a fight.

* * *

Bodies jostled into one another, just as they always had, just like every year before. But one collision held a little more intensity than most. 

"Potter." The name was uttered as a curse.

"Malfoy." A rather unimaginative retort, but it served its purpose.

"I see your _entourage_ is the same as always, if not a little _muddier_." Malfoy's haughty gaze lingered a bit longer on Hermione and an innocent Ravenclaw who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"It's our seventh year, for Merlin's sake. Can't you insult me instead of my friends _yet_?"

"Why should I, when my current method works so well?" And he walked away, his two goons following when they noticed he was gone.

I am proud to say I was there that day on Platform Nine and Three Quarters. I was there at the birth of their relationship. Looking back, I think I might remember Harry's eyes following Malfoy's path as he left, but it might be wishful thinking. And Harry might have been looking only in anger. But whatever it was, that was how it started.

For the first few months of school, everything was like that. Bitter remarks, just the same as they had always been. But around January, their attitudes mocked the weather and only got colder.

They no longer jostled into one another in the halls. They never bothered interacting with one another unless it was worth it. So in this way, they were either a good distance apart, resolutely ignoring the other, or they were rolling around on the ground together, fighting with what could have been mistaken for passionate fury.

Now that I know what was actually happening during those fights, they take on a whole new level of emotion. At the time, they were somewhat entertaining. Now, they're completely heartbreaking.

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He did it in May. I'm still not entirely sure what his motivation was, but it's not as if I can just ask Harry. I don't think he knows how much I know. There are some things you just don't tell your best friend's little sister. We have a strained relationship right now at best. 

Anyways, I still don't really know why Malfoy killed himself. I would have thought that Harry would have been in on it as well, but from what I can tell, it was a surprise to everyone, including himself. I suppose I'll never really know.

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I'm thinking about switching viewpoints, or maybe taking away the involved narrator completely. Just telling it straight, I suppose. Any suggestions? Also, any betas? 

Gracias!

P.S. – I'm just like anybody else…a comment whore.


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